Corne v. Bausch and Lomb, Inc., 390 F. Supp. 161 (D. Ariz. 1975), vacated and remanded on appeal.
Tomkins v. Public Service Elec. & Gas Co., 422 F. Supp. 552 (D.N.J. 1976)
Feminist lawyer Nadine Taub represented Adrienne Tomkins in one of the earliest sexual harassment cases, Tomkins v. Public Service Elec. & Gas Co., 422 F. Supp. 553 (D.N.J. 1976). Tomkins won on appeal and eventually settled the suit for $20,000.
Henson v. City of Dundee, 682 F.2d 897 (11th Cir. 1982).
Henson v. City of Dundee, 682 F.2d 897 (11th Cir. 1982) established the prima facie case for sexual harassment under Title VII.
Williams v. Saxbe, 413 F. Supp. 654 (D.D.C. 1976)
Diane Williams made history with her groundbreaking case in 1976, Williams v. Saxbe, 413 F. Supp. 654 (D.D.C. 1976), the first successful sexual harassment case.
Diane Williams, photograph by Kyle White.
For more about her life, see here.
Bundy v. Jackson, 641 F.2d 934 (D.C. Cir. 1981)
Sandra G. Bundy v. Delbert Jackson, 641 F.2d 934 (D.C. Cir. 1981) was the first successful appellate court hostile environment sexual harassment case. For more about Sandra Bundy, see this recent New York Times profile.
Sandra Bundy, Photograph by Lexy Swall
Early Articulations of the Issue by Linda Gordon and Alliance Against Sexual Coercion
In 1977, Radical America had a special issue on sexual harassment, including two important essays:
Linda Gordon, The Politics of Sexual Harassment
Alliance Against Sexual Harassment, Organizing Against Sexual Harassment
Working Women United Institute, Labor Pains (newsletter), 1975-1976
Ithaca-based Working Women United Institute published a newsletter from 1975 to 1976 called WWU Labor Pains, in which they document their organizing work against sexual harassment.
Alliance Against Sexual Coercion, Sexual Harassment at the Workplace (1977)
This 1977 brochure produced by the Boston-based Alliance Against Sexual Coercion, titled “Sexual Harassment at the Workplace,” was an early articulation of the harms caused by sexual harassment and how to respond.
Sexual Harassment in the Airline Industry: Podcast
Sexism Takes Flight, Sexting History
In the 1960s, the airline industry ramped up its sexualization of stewardesses in order to increase revenues. Decades before the #MeToo movement, flight attendants navigated a workplace in which their employers required them to stay thin, remain unmarried, and squeeze into revealing clothing every day. In the early 1970s, flight attendants organized one of the first campaigns against workplace sexual harassment, assault, and sexual discrimination.
Poster for the 1975 Sexual Harassment Speak Out in Ithaca, New York
